"Tom Johnson's" plans

[Rayroy]

Originally Posted by Mike82

I don’t see much psychoanalysis happening here, but otherwise I agree. It seems pretty clear the police mishandled what should have been a relatively straightforward case. I’m also with you on the age issue: people tend to get fixated on that. My wife is nearly 50, but I’m confident that if she were involved in something like this, eyewitnesses might easily place her in her early to mid-30s. There’s a common assumption that criminals look older or fit some kind of “drugged-out” stereotype, and that’s just not accurate.

They did mention the office situation, and that Tom said it would be difficult to find because it was in an industrial park, suggesting they meet at a motel instead. That really should have raised major red flags for Jeremy and his employer. Renting a motel room just to buy a computer doesn’t make much sense, especially when maps were readily available and they could have found the place without too much trouble.

As for the overpayment, I agree with your take: it’s irrelevant. He clearly never intended to pay anything, and the inflated offer seems like it was calculated: high enough to distract from the warning signs, but not so high that it would scare them off or cause them to cancel. I don’t want to come across as blaming the innocent victims, but I remember being around 20 or 21 and realizing how naive I was and it wouldn’t have been hard for someone to take advantage of that. To be fair, even people who are more cynical might have assumed the worst-case scenario was theft of a computer that you don't own, not a violent attack and cold blooded murder.

I've always tried to understand people to avoid problems and know how to best deal with them to get the best results. How else does a coach make a successful team with lots of different egos? You can't apply the same formula to people from different backgrounds, cultures, or upbringings. You have to look at each person to figure out what works with that individual.

Also with the age, I'm 50 but I've only gone gray in my temples and my beard. The rest of my head is my natural hair color and I never went bald. I have a full head of hair. I'm also in shape lifting weights and bike riding. No one guesses 50. The most they guess is 40, usually 35. I also never smoked and don't drink, so my voice is as clear as it was when I was 20. If you want to solve a case, you look at every angle. There are so many things in history have been discovered by accident, such as penicillin.